Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $157.1111.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $158.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $176.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:WMS opened at $144.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $143.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.61. Advanced Drainage Systems has a 12 month low of $93.92 and a 12 month high of $155.39.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.27. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.85% and a net margin of 15.35%.The company had revenue of $850.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $802.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. Advanced Drainage Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is currently 12.29%.

Insider Activity at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other Advanced Drainage Systems news, Director Robert M. Eversole sold 10,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.82, for a total value of $1,615,154.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,652,614.32. This represents a 17.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tim A. Makowski sold 4,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.21, for a total value of $731,278.21. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $368,101.07. This represents a 66.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,772 shares of company stock valued at $14,605,539. Company insiders own 1.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.3% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 18,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,017 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,537,094 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $818,905,000 after acquiring an additional 204,826 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 657,381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,424,000 after acquiring an additional 63,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 118,091 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,837 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

About Advanced Drainage Systems

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products in North America and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments. It offers single, double, and triple wall corrugated polypropylene and polyethylene pipes; plastic leachfield chambers and systems; EZflow synthetic aggregate bundles; wastewater purification through mechanical aeration wastewater for residential and commercial systems; septic tanks and accessories; combined treatment and dispersal systems, including advanced enviro-septic and advanced treatment leachfield systems; and allied products, including storm retention/detention and septic chambers, polyvinyl chloride drainage structures, fittings, and water quality filters and separators.